Sunday, June 12, 2016

Sour grapes or hotel hijinks?

Is Don Hewitt a disgruntled developer or someone trying to blow the whistle on sweetheart deals? Anna Wolfe scored another story in the Clarion-Ledger yesterday and raised questions about the convention center hotel deal.  Ms. Wolfe reported:

Through his objection to a Jackson Redevelopment Authority project selection, local developer Don Hewitt has connected dots that he says illustrate conflicts of interest.

Hewitt, managing member of Advanced Technology Building Solutions, competed alongside Red Leaf unsuccessfully against Engineering Design Technology and Mississippi Developers for the Jackson Convention Complex hotel deal.

“They’re going to sue us whether we approve it or not,” said JRA Chairman McKinley Alexander. “I contend that there’s nothing we’re going to do that’s not going to result in the need for litigation.”...

He has yet to receive any kind of response from the authority. Alexander calls it sour grapes.

"Most of the stuff they write, I tend not to read it," Alexander said, adding that he does not have any development interest or any family members who would be included on contracts, so he doesn't have to worry about conflicts. "None of the board members I know about have a conflict with EDT."

The subcontractors, on the other hand, aren't of interest to Alexander, who stresses they are not the ones the JRA approves.....

Why would anyone look at subcontractors? It is true that Mr. Hewitt has challenged several JRA decisions over the past few years in court. However, Ms. Wolfe quizes the financing of this particular deal:

There's one other issue: the validity of the project's investor, Hamershlag, Sulzberger, and Borg Capital Markets Inc., which claims it has the financial capacity to provide bond backing for the entire project.

According to a letter from the New York investment banking firm, "For the Jackson project we have a partnership with PFA, a political subdivision of the State of Wisconsin created for the purpose of issuing tax-exempt and taxable conduit bonds for public and private entities nationwide."

Hamershlag does not have an operating webpage. The group's Facebook page says it has operated as an investment bank for over 175 years and has 56 offices in 33 countries.

Mychal Jefferson, chairman of Hamershlag's Private Family Office who owns 10 to 25 percent of the company, is Mississippi Developers' CFO. Hamershlag says in the EDT proposal that it is a minority-owned company, but records from FINRA, the primary regulatory entity in the investments industry, show 75 percent of the company is owned by Stephen Perciballi, who is white.... Rest of article.

Interesting. Very interesting. Read the rest of the story.  Not bad for someone who isn't a 'voice of the community". 

20 comments:

Anonymous said...

Anna Wolfe has been killing it, and it's obvious she has a good source and knows what the investigators are looking at. She can't come out and write that in an article, but given how aggressively she has been reporting lately, that's clearly what's going on.

It has been hilarious watching Jackson's voice of the community and her former boss cattily going after her for "irresponsible" reporting.

Kingfish said...

What has she been doing?

Anonymous said...

Anna needs to turn her efforts toward the gaming commission: http://www.clarionledger.com/longform/news/politics/2016/06/11/bingo-mississippi-millions/85530148/

The Gaming Commission has long been a toothless paper tiger and continues to let casino and charitable bingo operators get away with murder. They are told to stay out of the papers, not make waves and avoid embarrassing commission members, corporations and their executives. They are in bed with the private sector hospitality association and its director (Larry Gregory) - who happens to be the former Executive Director of the gaming commission - still has influence over the affairs/decisions of the Commission. Gregory is a long time politico in the state and has left a trail of impropriety in his wake, he's managed to get his former bosses replaced so he could advance his career and has worked himself into a sweetheart deal where he can peddle influence over the weaklings at the commission.

Anonymous said...

Damn 12:28. Get a life. Or a blog of your own.

This post was about the City of Jackson. JRA. Hotel developers. The crony politics of Jackson's Mayor.

And about the good job that Anna Wolfe is doing in being relentless in following up on the story.

You want to write a column about the Gaming Commission - bring on some specifics other than your being upset (maybe got nailed by them?? Or lost a job with them?) doesn't matter. Its another subject. Since you have done this previously, go ahead and start your own blog and let it be a one-subject blog. Don't know what your readership will be but at least you might stay out of the way of those of us that have other concerns.

Kudos to Anna Wolfe - again.

Anonymous said...

12:28
Your feeble attempt to shift the focus of the thread from the actual subject would indicate that you must be involved in that scam. Don't worry. There's plenty of time to look at the Gaming Commission, but, right now, the camera lens is pointed at you and yours.

Anonymous said...

Thank goodness Anna exited the JFP. All the good ones do. Ever notice how nearly every story and staff column there, regardless of author, reads as if it was written by DonnerKay?

Anonymous said...

Looks like everything checks out.

If it's good enough for Nancy Pelosi's son it ought to be good enough for the JRA.



Paul Francis Pelosi Jr. (born January 23, 1969) is the son of former Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, and a speaker on environmental policies[1] encouraging individuals and local governments to take an active role in conserving natural resources and reducing their carbon footprint. Pelosi has spoken on topical environmental issues at conferences in Stockholm, Milan, and Amsterdam.

In 2013, Pelosi joined Hamershlag, Sulzberger & Borg, one of the oldest investment banks firms focused on mergers, equity underwriting and debt offerings.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Pelosi_Jr.

Anonymous said...

DonnerKay and Yarber seem to enjoy a very special relationship with each other and the bold new city.

Anonymous said...

Didn't Pelosi's staff get arrested for its involvement is Hamershlag.

Anonymous said...

KF, she has sent out numerous tweets bitching about the reporting, however I do not care nearly enough to go back and find them. Also, as 2:47 and 4:44 have pointed out, they have consistently taken the side of the city, and her heavy-handed editorial influence is obvious in a lot of the stories that tend to be otherwise well done by that Summers guy. Not that that is anything new though.

C. Cannon said...

No reporter worth their salt stays working for the Stauffer/Ladd sweatshop. Kingfish and now Anna are doing all the heavy lifting that LaddCo claims the JFP has been doing for over a decade.

Anonymous said...

Being completely neutral, some things Ladd is saying are correct. Anna's story on Yarber's mortgage was botched journalism as best. they tried to paint tony ( true or not) as a crook who got political favors with no quotes from real people to back it up.

on the other hand, Ladd is hating on anna and the CL for sure. JFP has maybe 2 more years, and that's being nice.
She keeps throwing mud as a desperate attempt to get more readers. How about:

Do more ground breaking stories
Pay your reporters

Anonymous said...

Hopefully the Ledger will pay Ms. Wolfe enough to keep her. Her story on Yarber's disappearing mortgage note in no way suggested it was a payoff. She explained how it was written off.

WHA?? said...

Wolff's article, at least the part pasted above by Kingfish, reads like a journal entry intended for an editor's comments or approval. Imagine being a simple reader on this blog, with no prior interest in or knowledge of this 'story'. It would make zero sense, as it did to me.

Suddenly this novel transports me into the Pelosi dining room and just as quickly thrusts me into the sweatshop operated by one Miz Ladd, of whom I have even less interest and knowledge.

So, unless you're one of the players in this 'mini series', write for a newspaper or have a passing interest in the mayor's home mortgage and journalism interns, you're left with a resounding "WHAT?" on your face.

Anonymous said...

... as it did to me.

Nobody cares.

Anonymous said...

@ 7:08
Perhaps you would be more comfortable with Snapchat.

Anonymous said...

You Anna Wolfe groupies are so predictable. If she was a troll, you would be blowing her out of the water. Go take some saltpeter and relax.

Anonymous said...

@708

Keep reading the fine quality posts and comments here and continue to try and to improve your internet skillz.

There's a lot to learn and an occasional inside game or two being played. if you pay close attention you might even see some occasional high quality muckraking and exposure of political crooks.

If all this seems like too much effort, or is beyond your skillz, then don't let the door hit ya!

Anonymous said...

The "56 offices in 35 countries" are all Regus Virtual office locations. The company was founded in 1835, but was purchased only registered with FINRA in 2000. Executives in the company have a FINRA rap sheet.

A DC based developer using a political consultant as a hotelier while hiring BS and Parker Poe. Think bigger, folks. Think bigger.

Luther's Wabash said...

Enter the JJ groupies (or is it just JJ in disguise) to support his nonsensical crypticisms. They gots skillz.


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